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Meeru Dhalwala is the mother of two girls, but her instinct is to ‘mom’ the whole world. And in a way, her latest project does just that.

Dhalwala (who runs the celebrated Vij’s and Rangoli restaurants in Vancouver with husband Vikram Vij and has co-authored two cookbooks) jolted up in bed one night with an epiphany. That was the beginning of Project Joy of Feeding.

“I sit on panels, I’m interviewed, and I talk a lot about local foods, the environment and it dawned on me in the middle of the night last November — nothing’s going to change unless more of us use our hands and cook and unless we’re connected to the food,” she says.

She realized immigrant women were already doing that but they were invisible at the local food events and discussions about how we need to retrieve cooking skills. She wanted to showcase how these women of diverse communities walk that walk, how they take pride and joy in feeding their families and cook from scratch as a matter of course.

If using dried shiitake mushrooms, put them into a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let the mushrooms rehydrate for about 15 minutes. Once cool, squeeze out the excess water, cut out the stems and discard as they are very hard, and chop the mushrooms finely.

Bring a saucepan half full of water to a boil. Add all the napa and cook briefly, until the water comes back to a boil. Drain the napa in a colander and immerse it into a bowl of cold water, refreshing the water once or twice to stop the napa from cooking further. Gather the napa in your hands and squeeze out the excess water and measure out about 1 cup of cooked napa.

In a large bowl, combine all the filling ingredients including the fresh or re-hydrated shiitake and cooked shredded Napa. Mix well. The meat filling can be refrigerated and used up to 1 day later or frozen.

Fill a small bowl with water and have a tray or large plate ready for the sealed gyoza. Place several gyoza wrappers on the counter and place about 1 teaspoon full of the meat filling in the centre of each wrapper. Place one wrapper with filling in one hand and after dipping a finger in the water bowl with the other hand, wet the top half of the circumference of a wrapper. Fold the wrapper up over the meat filling, and match the top edge, creating a half circle shape. Either press the edges together as is, or create 5 small pleats with both edges pressed together, along the circular edge for a fancier looking gyoza. Repeat for each gyoza, placing the finished ones on the tray.

Heat a large non–stick pan on medium to medium-high heat. Add about 1 1/2 tablespoons (7mL) oil and fill the pan with as many gyozas that will fit, without touching each other. Fry until brown and crispy — about 5 minutes. Turn each gyoza over. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 mL) water to the pan and immediately cover with a lid, steaming the gyozas for about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the lid and turn the gyoza over again, letting the bottoms crisp up a little once again for another few minutes. Repeat until you have fried all the gyoza.

Serve immediately with Dipping Sauce in a small bowl for each person. After being cooked, the gyoza can be refrigerated or frozen and gently re-heated in the microwave.

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Kari Marken: Turkish Hot Tarsus Hummus

Serves 6-8

2 cups (500 mL) dried chickpeas, soaked overnight

1/2 cup (125 mL) tahini

1/2 cup (125 mL) water

Juice of 2 to 4 lemons (depending on personal preference)

1 tablespoon (15 mL) cumin seeds

2 teaspoons (10 mL) salt

2 tablespoons (30 mL) olive oil

2 teaspoons (30 mL) sweet red pepper flakes

For the topping:

1/4 cup (60 mL) olive oil

1 teaspoon (15 mL) red pepper paste

2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon (7 mL) cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon (7mL) cumin

1 teaspoon (15 mL) sumac

For topping garnish:

Finely chopped parsley (to sprinkle on top of humus)

A drizzle of stirred tahini

Boil the chickpeas in 6 to 7 cups slightly salted water, covered, until they get soft. This will take 40 to 50 minutes. Turn off heat and allow chickpeas to cool enough so that you can touch them. Do not drain the water. Put the chickpeas in a food processor with 1 cup (250 mL) of the water in which they boiled and add the whole cumin seeds. Mix the cumin and chickpeas until smooth. Then add the salt, lemon juice, olive oil, red pepper flakes, and cumin. Mix again until they combine well. The consistency of the humus should be slightly soupy at this point. If it isn’t, add more water, 1/3 cup (80 mL) at a time.

Place the pureed chickpeas in a pot and cook on low heat for 1 hour, while stirring occasionally. The final consistency should be smooth, between the consistencies of stirred yogurt and stirred sour cream. (If you have time, you can continue to add water and reduce the humus for another hour, as this will only intensify the flavours.) Approximately 30 minutes before serving, add the tahini and mix in thoroughly into the humus. Check for the flavours and add more salt, extra lemon, and tahini to taste. Pour the humus in a large, flat, shallow serving bowl.

Right before serving, heat the olive oil in a pan on medium heat. Add the red pepper paste and mix it thoroughly into the oil. Heat the paste for 2 to 3 minutes, while stirring. Add the ground cumin, cumin seeds, sumac and the garlic. Let the spices and garlic cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute and then pour the entire mixture on top of the humus. Drizzle some tahini and sprinkle with parsley.

Serve with any kind of bread or crackers, but the traditional Tarsus style is to eat this humus with a side of homemade pickles, a lemon wedge, and a loaf of fresh white bread from a wood oven.

Mix half the white cornmeal with enough cold water to make a smooth paste in a heavy-based saucepan with a long handle for easy handling.

Pour boiling water into the pot with the cornmeal paste. Place on stove, on medium-high heat, stirring vigorously to avoid lumps, until it starts to boil. Use a long handled wooden spoon as the porridge may splatter. Cover and turn down heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove lid, and gradually add the remaining cornmeal, one-quarter at a time, stirring thoroughly and firmly until the whole mixture thickens. You need a strong wrist as the mixture thickens you need to stir it more vigorously. Once it is the texture of oatmeal, turn off heat and cover. It will thicken a bit more in the next few minutes.

Heat oil on medium-high in a pan for 1 minute. Add beef cubes and fry until lightly browned. Add in the onions, garlic and salt, and stir for 6 to 8 minutes or until the onions are soft and lightly browned. Stir in the tomatoes, reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer for about 7 minutes or until the tomatoes have softened to make a gravy. Add water and bring to the boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Check a piece of beef to make sure it is cooked. If the sauce appears a little thin at this stage dissolve 2 tablespoons (30 mL) cornflour in 2 tablespoons (30 mL) water and stir into the stew. Finally, add the chopped greens and mix in. Cover the pot and cook for about 5 to 10 minutes, depending on how soft you prefer your greens. Take off heat.

Serve cornmeal at room temperature with the hot beef and collard stew.

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